John Lennon Felt The Beatles’ ‘I Want to Hold You Hand’ Inspired a 1970s Song

‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’ by the Beatles served as the basis for a 1970s song. John Lennon pointed out the similarities and addressed the songwriter of the song while drunk.Nerdy rock group Devo is best known for the number-one single “Whip It.” In a 2022 conversation with Stereogum, Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo admitted to using the intro to the Beatles hit.“If you listen to the first song on the first Devo record, I start off ‘Uncontrollable Urge’ with basically the same intro as ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand,’” Mothersbaugh revealed. “In the song, there’s a deconstructed ‘yeah yeah yeah.’ It didn’t go unnoticed by John Lennon.”Mothersbaugh described Lennon’s reaction to hearing the sample on Devo’s song, “He looks over, and I’m sitting in the passenger seat of the Econoline I’m going to be sleeping in that night,” he added. “He comes over and sticks his head right in front of my face, and he stinks like beer, and he goes ‘Yeah yeah yeah yeah!’ right in my face.”